“Set higher goals, be committed to them, and grow!”

A Story of Ahmad Rizky, Bangkit 2022 Graduate from Physics, Institut Pertanian Bogor

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
(Ann Landers, American Columnist)

Hard work has become an inseparable part of the life of Ahmad Rizky (22) since he is already very familiar with this term. Seeing his parents as his paragon, Iky―that's what he called―always strives to do his best in whatever he is doing. Because, unlike most people. Iky has to work twice as hard to earn many things.

Why? Find the answer in the following story of the gritty and persistent Iky in getting across from his previous field of knowledge to technology.

Iky as His Parents' Proud

Iky was born into a hard-working family who resided in Tangerang. To give his family life, Iky's father becomes a street vendor who sells "papeda," a porridge from Maluku, in front of the elementary school area. At the same time, Iky's mother is a housewife. His parents' perseverance in earning livelihood inspires Iky to be as tenacious as possible when it comes to achievement at school.

When Iky was a student at SMAN 23 Kabupaten Tangerang, he had an outstanding study performance. This achievement resulted in discounted tuition fees for him so that his parents could focus on financing another family's needs. Clearly, Iky constantly became the pride of his family when he managed to go to Institute Pertanian Bogor with a full governmental scholarship called BIDIK MISI after graduating from high school.

Studying in the Department of Physics, Iky enjoyed his life as a science student. As he did when he was in high school, he also accomplished many on campus. However, when Iky was in his third year of college, he found that a promising job in the field of physics could be pursued by earning a higher education. It meant he had to take a master's degree.

Thinking about landing his first job after graduation, Iky felt that he had to switch his future career to execute this plan. A master's degree wasn't his priority yet because he wanted to give back to his parents by helping his father earn a livelihood. This led Iky to cross over the "bridge."

Data Science as The Field Most Physicist Choose

Deciding to switch his future career, Iky was looking for the most suitable job that he could get as a future Physics graduate. From various working sectors that can fit Iky's degree, he found that most of his peers from his major took the plunge into technology. This discovery intrigued him to learn more about tech. After long consideration, Iky decided to learn about data.

As a non-IT student who aspired to be a tech talent, Iky took many data science courses on the internet. Unfortunately, many of these courses only pushed him to study independently without providing a facilitator to guide him. This way of learning didn't suit him.

Then, after taking those online courses, Iky tried his luck by applying for various internships. From numerous applications sent to multiple companies, all of them rejected him. That made him realize that the companies don't want to "buy a lemon," or they don't want to hire someone with a capacity below their expectation. Therefore, Iky was determined to find the right learning resource to shape him into a career-ready talent.

Bangkit's Way of Learning Suited Iky Very Well

Iky's quest to find the most suitable learning platform began. On the homepage of Magang dan Studi Independen Bersertifikat (MSIB), an internship and learning program initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Iky found an announcement about Bangkit.

Interested in getting to know more about Bangkit, Iky delved into Bangkit's way of learning. Seeing this program trains future digital talents in a way that fits Iky―with its self-paced learning and the presence of a facilitator, Iky was very excited to sign himself up. Moreover, he knew many non-IT students were doing well in Bangkit. Finally, Iky was successfully accepted into Bangkit in the 8th semester.

As his time in Bangkit 2022 began, Iky felt that his learning experience in Bangkit was different from other online courses he had attended before. According to him, what made Bangkit prominent was the presence of facilitators that helped him study. Furthermore, he also experienced the flexibility of its learning environment so that he could determine his own pace of learning as long as he followed the rules.

Although Iky had to learn in Bangkit while doing his bachelor's thesis, he underwent 900 hours of studying Machine Learning earnestly. Seeing that the graduation requirements of Bangkit were rigorous, there was nothing he could do other than give his best as a cohort. Besides that, taking part in Bangkit also opened Iky's eyes to the fact that knowledge about data is vast, and there are still many things to explore to make him a good quality data scientist.

Successfully "Crossed the Bridge"

For Iky, the things that made his Bangkit learning experience exceptional are its soft skills and English classes. He was delighted to get these two training because they could prepare Iky to be a high-caliber talent. Equipped with abundant knowledge about tech, English, and soft skills, Iky was ready to launch his career once he graduated from Bangkit.

His career journey began when he heard an announcement about a vacancy in a Jakarta-based startup focused on beauty and skin care. This company was looking for talent to fill the Junior Data Scientist position. Armed with his experience of learning in Bangkit, Iky submitted his application.

After following a series of interviews, Iky managed to "cross the bridge" by being accepted as a part of this startup. He admitted that Bangkit successfully added his value as a tech talent, and his participation in Bangkit also helped him become an employee there.

“Bangkit is very well-known among IT practitioners; therefore, I made it in crossing the bridge from physics to technology by working in my current company. Insights gained from Bangkit supported me in doing my task of handling the training model.”

The culture of self-paced learning in Bangkit also contributed to Iky when he had to adapt to the fast-paced startup environment quickly. Getting used to learning something new in Bangkit made Iky willing to explore something new at work.

“Never stop learning, although you already get what you want and achieve what you’ve always dreamed of. Set higher goals, be committed to them, and grow!” Iky exclaimed to motivate his juniors in Bangkit 2023.

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